Tag Archives: Carstensz

Trip Journal for Carstensz Pyramid, October 2009 (feed courtesy Mountain Trip)

Mountain Trip Guiding Company

• Back in Bali 25 October 2009
  I arrived in Bali this morning with Ben Swart and Elsie Bezuidenhout, the remainder of the Mountain Trip 2009 Carstensz Expedition. We are all happy to be heading home after a long, but ultimately successful trip.I had a beautiful 2nd summit day with Ben and Elsie, after a snowy 1st summit with Bill H. and Ephi G. I can't emphasize enough how hard it is […]
  Bill Allen
• Out of the mountains! 23 October 2009
  Bill called last night to report that they were out of base camp, and headed for Nabire. They had stopped over at a small mining operation to refuel the helicopter.Everyone is thrilled with the outcome of this longer-than-anticipated expedition. I don't want to flog the proverbial dead horse, but tenacity and patience won the day on this trip. I should […]
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• Back at BC after the summit 21 October 2009
  Bill just called again to say that he, Ben and Elsie are all safely back in base camp.They awoke last night to a starry sky and headed to the summit in cold, but clear weather. There was some snow en route, but it quickly melted at the sun at 4 degrees below the equator rose higher in the clear blue sky.The clouds they encountered on the summit were intermit […]
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• Ben and Elsie reach the summit! 21 October 2009
  Bill called earlier today from the summit of Carstensz Pyramid!He said it had been a stunningly clear, blue sky day all the way up. He, Ben and Elsie made good time on the route, but just as they reached the top, a bank of clouds rolled in and obscured their view. They were descending in good, but cloudy weather and are hopeful that the helicopter will fly i […]
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• Getting ready for the summit 20 October 2009
  Bill called to say that he, Elsie and Ben have all spent an absolutely beautiful day around base camp, practicing some of the skills the team will need for a summit push. If the weather holds, the group will head up tonight!Ephi and Bill Hanlon are en route to Denpassar and should be heading home in the next day or so.We'd like to take a moment to compl […]
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• Snowy Summit! 18 October 2009
  Bill, Ephi and Bill Hanlon all stood on the summit on Friday! It was a very snowy day and they were fortunate that it was not more windy or they would have had to turn back.Sorry for the delay folks. I've been traveling and in meetings up in Alaska, and have posted updates via a new service from my phone, but apparently, they did not post. Better living […]
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• Going for the summit? 15 October 2009
  Bill called last night to report that the Kamov made a second attempt to get the rest of the team in to base camp, but turned back due to weather. Ben and Elsie are still trying to get in, but chris Davenport needs to return to the States due to other commitments. Bill, Ephi and Bill Hanlon are going to head up for a summit attempt today, and are probably pa […]
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• Waiting for the second flight 14 October 2009
  Bill called earlier to say that the weather was not good enough for the Kamov to make the second flight into base camp yesterday. Clouds and intermittent rain made for conditions that were just too marginal to fly.Everyone is still excited and committed to seeing this through, so as soon as the weather breaks, they'll be in the air.
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• At Base Camp! 13 October 2009
  Bill called from the Lakes Base Camp, just over the ridge from the start of their route up Carstensz Pyramid.Half the team flew into BC today, and the remainder might make it in, although Bill suspects that they will more realistically fly tomorrow. To reemphasize how... "dynamic" the situation is over there, when it came time to load up the huge, […]
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• Hoping to fly today! 12 October 2009
  The team made it to the small town of Nabire, on the NW coast of the island of Papua. They had to take a couple of additional days due to some delays, but are optimistic that they will fly to Base Camp today.The Bell helicopter has been repaired, but the Indonesian version of the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) has decided that it cannot fly until a th […]
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• Makassar 8 October 2009
  We made it one step closer to Papua yesterday. We are in Makassar on the southern tip of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The plan is to fly to Papua tonight arriving early tomorrow morning. We are staying in another comfortable hotel overlooking Losari beach right in downtown Makassar. I think I can safely say that we are all tired of comfort right now, a […]
  Bill Allen
• Pic's 7 October 2009
  Chris and Ephi hiked to the top of Mt Batur here in Bali yesterday morning, they got an alpine start leaving the hotel at 3am to be at the summit for the sunrise. Their early morning efforts were rewarded with a beautiful clear day. It's not all sitting by the pool and going surfing here in Bali...We're off to the airport for our flights to Makassa […]
  Bill Allen
• Leaving for Papua! 6 October 2009
  We're leaving Bali this afternoon on our way towards Papua and Carstensz Pyramid. We haven't been suffering too much so far on this expedition, a beautiful hotel on the beach in Bali doesn't really compare to sitting in a tent in a storm on a snowy mountain, but we have been delayed a couple of days. Today we are starting the move to Papua whi […]
  Bill Allen
• The Team arrived in Bali! 6 October 2009
  We're all here on the beautiful, busy little island of Bali. We finally got the whole team together last night for a really nice welcome dinner. I'll post some pics a bit later when I get them off the camera. It was a lot of flying for everyone from their homes to meet in Indonesia for the trip and takes a day or two to recover. We have been enjoyi […]
  Bill Allen
• Carstensz on Google Maps 1 October 2009
  [googlemaps https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=-3.877956,136.50238&spn=1.556439,2.90863&t=p&z=9&output=embed&w=425&h=350]
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• Off To Indonesia! 1 October 2009
  Welcome to the expedition dispatch blog for Mountain Trip's October, 2009 Carstensz Pyramid climb.Carstensz Pyramid is the highest peak on the continent of Oceania and due to the complexities of accessing this 16,023 foot (4,884 m) limestone mountain, it is the most elusive of the famed Seven Summits. Political and economic pressure closed all access to […]
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